Madison Markham

Program Assistant, Freedom to Read

Madison Markham is the Program Assistant for the Freedom to Read Program at PEN America. She received a BA in Sociology/Gender Studies from New College of Florida, where she received a Margaret Bates Award for her honors thesis on the role of queer student culture within higher education. Following politically motivated restrictions to academic freedom at New College, she helped lead student organizing efforts to protect free expression and inclusivity at the college, including co-hosting the [NEW] Commencement alternative graduation. During her time as an undergraduate, she also served as a Research Assistant for Dr. Sarah Hernandez and interned for the Margaret Good for Congress (FL-16) campaign.


Articles by Madison Markham

Banned BooksU.S. Free Expression
Thursday August 22

The State of Book Bans: Utah’s ‘No-Read List’

The law has now opened the floodgates for mass bans across Utah, and also requires schools to “dispose” of any banned books from their libraries.

Banned Books
Thursday July 18

The State of Book Bans: Wisconsin’s Battle with “Parental Rights”

Even without a “parental rights” law on the books, the rhetoric and associated policies have led to chaos in schools and libraries across Wisconsin.

U.S. Free ExpressionBanned Books
Friday May 10

The State of Book Bans: South Carolina Is Poised to Get Worse

If the South Carolina legislators pushing these regulations paid attention, they’d see that creating further pathways to remove books has consistently been a disaster.